The effectiveness of vaccination in controlling measles
According to data from the Ministry of Health, before implementing the vaccination of 1 dose of measles vaccine in the Expanded Immunization Program, the measles epidemic situation was still complicated. The number of cases recorded is mainly in the North with the incidence rate of 137.7/100,000 people in 1979 and 125.7/100,000 people in 1983, these are the two peaks of a measles epidemic cycle about 3-4 years apart.
Measles vaccination began to be included in the Expanded Immunization Program in Vietnam in October 8.25. The implementation has helped significantly reduce the incidence rate, from 112.8/100,000 people in 1986 to 29.8/100,000 people in 2010. However, the epidemic still broke out in a 5-year cycle (2014-2015, 2019-2020, 2024-2025).
Although in recent years, the vaccination rate has reached over 95%, there were periods before that of less than 90%, leading to a group of un vaccinated and unimmunized children.
The effectiveness of the vaccine is high, but 1 shot only has 85% immunity, and 2 shots are enough to reach 90%. In addition, the vaccination rate in remote areas and ethnic minority areas is still low, creating conditions for an outbreak. Meanwhile, in provinces and cities with high vaccination rates, only a few cases, not creating a major outbreak, it shows that the vaccine has contributed to controlling the epidemic.
In the period of 2020-2023, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the measles vaccination rate has decreased significantly, in many places below 90%, increasing the risk of an outbreak in the period of 2024-2025.
Thanks to vaccination results, the distribution of measles cases by age has changed. Recently, the incidence rate in children under 9 months old has increased, accounting for more than 15%, at times exceeding 20% due to not being vaccinated and having low immunity from mothers. At the same time, due to the accumulation of unvaccined groups, some epidemics have broken out such as early 2009, late 2013, early 2014, 2019, 2024.
Accelerate vaccination against the risk of increasing measles cases
In order to control the measles epidemic, the Prime Minister requested the implementation of a national measles vaccination campaign in March 2025. Official Dispatch No. 23/CD-TTg emphasizes the acceleration of vaccination progress, ensuring adequate vaccines, human resources, funding and medical supplies.
Measles in Vietnam in the coming time is at risk of continuing to increase, and we still need to be very cautious with the risk of an outbreak, so Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan suggested that the People's Committees of provinces and cities prioritize ensuring resources to speed up the progress of the measles vaccination campaign.
In 2025, the Ministry of Health will continue to propose that WHO support vaccination and issue a plan to implement a vaccination campaign, including adding a group of subjects aged 6-9 months in 24 provinces and cities and continuing to add 17 more provinces and cities to vaccinate the campaign for the group aged 1-10 and high-risk groups.
To date, 24 localities have issued vaccination campaign plans for 2025 and started implementation from February 2025. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have completed the implementation, and many localities have begun to implement.
Prof. Dr. Phan Trong Lan - Director of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology emphasized that localities need to strictly manage two groups of subjects: Unvaccated and difficult to vaccinate, especially in remote areas. To ensure the vaccination rate reaches over 95%, it is necessary to carefully review each commune and ward to avoid missing subjects.
He also noted that strengthening community immunity with measles vaccines is urgent. Measles vaccine alone for the vaccination campaign requires about 305,000 doses, purchased by provinces and cities. Therefore, local authorities need to be proactive in procurement to ensure vaccine supply.
